The picturesque and beautiful Kritsa village with important archaeological findings is in the Agios Nikolaos municipality of the Lasithi prefecture.

The village is built amphitheatrically on the foot of the Kastelos Mountain, 365 meters above the sea level.

The settlements of Ammoudara, Vathi, Theologos, Katharo, Kalivos, Mardati, Rousa Limni and Tapes are also under the local community. 2637 people live in the area and 1296 only in Kritsa. Their main occupation is agriculture. The olive oil produced in Kritsa is famous in all over the world and awarded internationally.

HISTORY

The area has been inhabited from the Post-Minoan Era as the archaeological findings prove. The ancient city of Lato was in Kritsa.

The village was desolated during the Arab Occupation and inhabited again in the 13^th and 14^th century. In the Mediaeval, it was the largest village in Crete.

ANCIENT LATO

The ancient Lato city was about 3 kilometers in the north of Kritsa of the Agios Nikolaos municipality, in Lasithi. It was protected due to its geographical position as it had the whole Mirampelo peninsula under its supervision.

The city was possibly built in the Minoan Era but the ruins preserved are from the Doric Era. The port of the ancient city was in the place where Agios Nikolaos is today and was called Kamara.

Its name is said to have come from the Lito goddess.

The archaeological site can be visited.